JANUARY 7TH, 1901

JANUARY 7TH, 1901

MY DEAR —, — ... It is a great comfort to know that every movement of our hearts towards the Lord originates with Himself. The very fact that we have desires and affections towards Him is the proof that He has drawn us. His ^[p. 40] love has flowed out to us, and has taken hold of our hearts to win them for Himself. And in His priestly grace He is ever active to form, as it were, fresh links between Himself and our hearts. What we need is to keep ourselves from idols, and to walk continually in lowliness and self-judgment, that we may not become corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ.

If our hearts are really true to Him we may be assured He will lead us on in the knowledge of Himself just as fast as we are able to advance. He knows how much we can take in, and He does not fail to minister to us the very food that is suitable to our present need. We may sometimes feel inclined to be impatient with ourselves because we do not make more rapid progress, but we have to learn to trust the Lord with our spiritual education. If our eyes are upon Him, and we follow with simple hearts as He leads us, we shall find that He leads us by a right way and brings us through all the exercises we need in order to form our souls in the appreciation of Himself, and of all those blessed things which are brought to pass in Him. We have to trust His love all through, and to learn increasingly to distrust ourselves.

I am very glad to know that your dear sister is so much better. I trust she may continue to gain strength through God’s mercy. With much love in the Lord,

Yours affectionately in Him,

January 7th, 1901.